PaNaMa To SaNTiaGo

10/6, 3am - hundreds of tiny well lite ships sprinkled the south entry to the Panama Canal. We floating above they floating beneath waiting for the right moment to pull anchor... I felt like a giant - and imagined reaching down from the sky to swirl my finger in the Pacific to watch the ships whirl and bump about~* They also reminded me of the night crawlers - who in one early morning moment liter the walk ways... then the next have moved into port~*

A Chilean local and my neighbor on the flight into Santiago - Ricardo - admonished the flight attendants frequently, wove stories of being a diplomat's son, expressed his passion for travel and spoke highly of Chile - although felt they were not as 'independently cultured' a nation as many other South American nations, because of their youth... in my head, the jury is still out there :)

After 5/5 hours of sleep - horizontal :)... I relaxed (yes that is a word in my vocabulary... and increasingly so) at the Sheraton for lunch and met up with some of my work colleagues. Following we adventured thru and atop Cerro San Cristobal - where Virgin Mary was trying to hold the moon~*

Cerro San Cristobal is Santiago's largest open space. Sitting atop the highest hill in Cerro San Cristobal is a 14 m (46.2 ft) - high statue of the Vergen de la Inmaculada Conception (Virgin Mary). This park is peppered with flowers that capture the imagination, Chilean medicinal plants and every tree found from Northern to Southern Chile. Jorge - was a gracious host and even found shade before we thought to seek it :)

pics to follow~*